This invention relates to a device for attachment to a pickup truck as a replacement for the rear bumper thereof which includes arms for lifting a round bale for loading and unloading relative to the truck bed.
Devices have previously been proposed for mounting at the rear of a pickup truck for loading and unloading round bales for transportation and livestock feeding purposes.
Some of the designs have achieved some success and products have been sold of this general type. However, in many cases these devices require significant modification to the truck including in some cases the total replacement of the truck bed and thus they are expensive to manufacture and install and in addition they can limit the truck with regard to its end uses so that it is restricted from properly carrying out other functions.
It will be appreciated that most farmers wish to use their vehicle for as many purposes as possible and hence it is very desirable that the lifting device, when retracted, does not interfere with any other use of the vehicle in normal manner.
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a device which can be attached to a pickup truck or similar vehicle in replacement for the rear bumper with the device being arranged to load and unload bales from the pickup box in an operating condition thereof and the device also being retractable and foldable so that it does not interfere with the positioning of other loads on the box.
According to a first aspect of the invention, therefore, there is provided a vehicle comprising a chassis having a pair of spaced parallel chassis members and ground wheels for supporting the chassis for movement across the ground, a truck bed mounted on the chassis for receiving and supporting a load and a bale lifting device for lifting a bale onto the truck bed, the bale lifting device comprising a pair of brackets each mounted on a respective chassis member so as to extend rearwardly thereform separate from said truck bed, a transverse frame member extending transversely of said vehicle from one side to the other thereof at a rear end of said vehicle, pivot means mounting said frame member on said brackets for pivotal movement of said frame member about a horizontal axis transverse to the vehicle, hydraulic ram means having bracket means attaching one end thereof to said chassis and an opposed end to said frame member so as to actuate said pivotal movement, a pair of arm members each having one end thereof mounted at a respective end of the frame member for pivotal movement about an axis at right angles to said frame member from a first position in which said arm members lie along said frame member parallel thereto to a second position in which said arm members extend outwardly from said frame member generally at right angles thereto, each of said arm members having a spike extending generally at right angles thereto and mounted thereon at an end thereof remote from said frame member in said second position such that spikes in said second position extend toward one another for engaging a bale, said frame member being shaped, including a pair of openings therein, to receive and confine said arm members and spikes in said first position such that said frame members and arm members define a rear bumper for said vehicle.
According to a second aspect of the invention, therefore, there is provided a bale lifting device for use on a vehicle comprising a chassis having a pair of spaced parallel chassis members and ground wheels for supporting the chassis for movement across the ground and a truck bed mounted on the chassis for receiving and supporting a load, said bale lifting device comprising a pair of brackets each for mounting on a respective chassis member so as to extend rearwardly therefrom separate from said truck bed, a transverse frame member arranged in use to extend transversely of said vehicle from one side to the other thereof at a rear end of said vehicle, pivot means mounting said frame member on said brackets for pivotal movement of said frame member about a horizontal axis transverse to the vehicle, hydraulic ram means having bracket means for attaching one end thereof to said chassis and attached at an opposed end to said frame member so as to actuate said pivotal movement, a pair of arm members each having one end thereof mounted at a respective end of the frame member for pivotal movement about an axis at right angles to said frame member from a first position in which said arm members lie along said frame member parallel thereto to a second position in which said arm members extend outwardly from said frame member generally at right angles thereto, each of said arm members having a spike extending generally at right angles thereto and mounted thereon at an end thereof remote from said frame member in said second position such that spikes in said second position extend toward one another for engaging a bale, said frame member being shaped, including a pair of openings therein, to receive and confine said arm members and spikes in said first position such that said frame members and arm members define a rear bumper for said vehicle.
The device therefore can be attached to the chassis of a pickup truck simply by removal of the existing bumper mechanism and attachment of the device to the chassis without in any way interfering with the pickup box so that the device extends rearwardly from the pickup box in the position of the normal rear bumper.
The whole of the frame member thus can pivot around the horizontal axis and is shaped to receive and confine the arms in the folded condition thereof so that the frame member and the arm constitute the rear bumper in that folded condition.
Preferably each of the arms includes a stub portion which extends outwardly and forwardly from the arm in the folded condition so that it wraps around the end of the frame member and constitutes an end of the bumper defined by the frame member and the arms. That stub portion can then be engaged by a hydraulic ram which extends generally parallel to a forward face of the frame member so that the hydraulic rams are protectedly received adjacent the frame member and are normally concealed from a rear view and protected from engagement by obstacles in the folded condition.
The frame member is preferably defined by a substantially flat plate member which extends across the rear face of the vehicle and includes flanges extending rearwardly from that plate member across the plate member at right angles thereto so as to define a channel for confining said arms in the folded condition. Flanges extending forwardly from the plate member can then contact the various parts of the pivot mounting, arm rams and pivot ram for the actuation movement of the arms and the frame member.